Erie City Council CRIZ board plan ensures all stakeholders are heard now and in the future

We keep hearing about the establishment of a City Revitalization & Improvement Zone (CRIZ) Authority as being a pragmatic matter of best practices. As the legislative body responsible for creating this authority, it is important that Erie City Council brings together all of our stakeholders in an effort to understand their current situation as well as their input on the future of this opportunity, and that we talk to community leaders in places where CRIZ has been an effective tool for economic development.

To learn more about the work of CRIZ authorities, I privately spoke to the Lancaster CRIZ director when he was in Erie. I believe City Council is working diligently to understand and, where appropriate, to adopt the best practices of the City of Lancaster. I appreciate Erie Insurance bringing him to town to consult on the city of Erie's application, and the efforts of Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-49th Dist., to promote that perspective.

One notable, unique thing that Lancaster did was to create a nine-member CRIZ authority, the largest of its kind in the commonwealth. The other CRIZ communities — Tamaqua and Bethlehem — have just five members, all of whom are appointed by the mayors of those two cities.

Background: Erie City Council passes both competing CRIZ ordinances; further talks expected

Lancaster expanded its CRIZ Authority to bring together members with specific skills and professional experiences. Also, Lancaster's state senator has the majority of the appointments, limiting the power of both the mayor and its city council.

Erie City Council has adopted the same number of members as Lancaster's CRIZ Authority in our ordinance for an Erie CRIZ Authority because we see that as a best practice. We have also adopted some of the Lancaster ordinance and updates from Sen. Laughlin's proposal because it is supported by Erie Mayor Joe Schember. We also agree about the professional experience we believe members of the authority should have. In fact, seven of the nine names on the board in the mayor's and Laughlin's proposal are the same as the names put forward by City Council.

Previous coverage: Competing ordinances on City Council agenda as Erie pushes for statewide CRIZ designation

But there's one important point on which we disagree.

Mayor Schember and Sen. Laughlin would like to control all of the appointments to the new CRIZ Authority. First, the power of a state senator to make appointments to a municipal authority might not even be legal. Furthermore, I don't believe that is a best practice the city of Erie should adopt. You may have faith in Mayor Schember and Sen. Laughlin to make these appointments now, but CRIZ is a 30-year commitment. Would you place the same blind faith in the next mayor or state senator, or the ones who follow them?

Sen. Laughlin has wrongfully accused City Council, and me, in particular, of making a power grab for the CRIZ Authority. If either proposal bears evidence of a power grab, I would argue it's the ordinance that consolidates power between two men rather than City Council's proposal which distributes appointments across the city's elected officials, including the mayor.

Opinion: Schember and Laughlin: Erie must speak with 'one voice' and seek a CRIZ to fund growth

I am very disappointed that the mayor and two members of City Council have offered to give away the power of the city to an official whose elected mandate is to participate in state policy for Erie County. Sen. Laughlin may be a proponent of CRIZ, but that doesn't mean he — or his successors — will have the best interest of the city in mind. I have legitimate concerns as to how that Senate seat is held in the future. With the city only having about one-third of the influence over the Senate seat, allocations from the CRIZ may not be to the benefit of city residents.

And contrary to claims the senator has made, this is not about me. If it was, I would not have supported the mayor's decision to replace a well-qualified friend of mine, and a political supporter of mine, with someone I have never met. I have always had a great respect, appreciation and indebtedness to another particular person, for a number of family reasons. She might be replaced in City Council's ordinance. I've taken no appointments for myself in the ordinance brought forward by council, yet I continue to argue in favor of my proposal because I believe it is the best way to ensure that CRIZ benefits the city in the long term.

I've been told that's bad politics. I hope it becomes a best practice.

The City of Lancaster had partisan reasons to give up its representation to their senator. Erie City Council's ordinance provides nonpartisan representation in coequal branches of government and serves our constituents and our stakeholders. The state senator and the city's representatives in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives will always be welcome to provide input to council and the mayor. Those relationships are sacred, but they should also be fair to those of us elected to represent the interests and future of the city of Erie.

Lancaster gave up its constituents as a pragmatic matter in a partisan moment. In 2013, all branches in Harrisburg were GOP-led, and like Erie, the senator was their only Republican in Lancaster. In 2023, it's not pragmatic, and it wouldn't be prudent. It is to our detriment to give away city control to a countywide office that has no real influence in city government. The only reason to do so would be to satisfy partisan desires and egos attempting to put their own interests, and the interests of the donors, ahead of city residents.

I hope that the mayor reconsiders his support for the city's ordinance. It would be a pragmatic decision in support of the immense benefits that a unified CRIZ application would bring to our city.

Chuck Nelson, a Democrat, is the president of Erie City Council.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Chuck Nelson explains why City Council has best CRIZ board proposal